AFM Manufacturer Asylum Research Sets New Sales Record

Asylum Research, the technology leader for atomic force and scanning probe microscopy (AFM/SPM), announced today that it set new records for both orders and shipments in its third quarter. Orders were greater by more than 60% than the company's previous record for a calendar quarter. These orders were a near equal combination of the recently introduced Cypher system, the world's highest resolution AFM, the MFP-3D-BIO AFM, which mounts on an inverted optical microscope platform for the biosciences, and the versatile MFP-3D Standalone AFM for physical and materials science applications. Asylum also announced that it received its first order funded under a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) from Purdue University. Asylum expects significant orders in Q4 and throughout 2010 due to the ARRA and other global economic stimulus programs.

Commented Dr. Jason Cleveland, Asylum Research CEO, "Our third quarter was a tremendous achievement and I want to thank everyone in our worldwide organization for their excellent effort. With stimulus funds just beginning to flow, and our legion of users continuing to help us spread the word about our superior products and support, the future looks very bright indeed. This is an exciting time for Asylum Research."

Added John Green, Executive VP of Sales, "We're seeing an overwhelming response to our new Cypher AFM, while our MFP-3D AFM family continues to outperform other instruments in its class. With the full impact of the US stimulus funds yet to be seen - and record numbers of pending quotes to high quality researchers - we're expecting that our Q3 results are a harbinger of more records to come. Many thanks to our loyal users -- and welcome to the Asylum family to our new customers!"